Reply #7: Certainly the UN deserves a lot of criticism for their failure to condemn U.S. actions

[Time for change]

However, I think that if the the U.S. withdrew its forces and the UN embarked on a peacekeeping mission and made it obvious that:

1. they had no interest in steeling Iraqi resources.

2. they were interested only in keeping the peace, NOT in killing Iraqis

3. they had no interest in a permanent occupation of the country

4. conformed to international law, especially with regard to detention of prisoners

I believe in that case the Iraqis would be much more accepting of a UN peace keeping mission than they are of the US occupation. How much more accepting is hard to say.

Even as it is now, there is at least some ambivalence about the U.S. military presence, as many Iraqis recognize the need for a security force to keep the peace and provide security.